Slede c. 1654 - 1656

Curator: Standing here before "Slede" by Gerard ter Borch the Younger, a drawing rendered in pencil on paper around 1654-1656. It's a tiny peek into the artist's process, held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Well, the first impression is subtle—almost ethereal. A very faint outline emerges, barely a whisper of an object on paper. Curator: It certainly demands a closer look, doesn't it? Ter Borch was, of course, a master of the Dutch Golden Age, known for his exquisite rendering of fabrics and intimate scenes. Here, though, we see something rawer, more immediate. Editor: And interesting from a material standpoint because while the paintings get a lot of focus in terms of depicting opulence and luxury materials like silk, we can look at the ready availability of drawing materials and inexpensive paper and consider who made it accessible and affordable during that period. This quick drawing gives insight to that larger structure. Curator: Precisely. It is more spontaneous than his typically labored, staged pieces. One imagines him quickly sketching it during a day of snow and sport in Holland. There’s something freeing about seeing an artist's hand so directly. Editor: A bit more broadly though, I wonder about how depictions like these informed societal structures through materials like graphite; pencils—how they played an important role in art production and expanded the access, impacting even broader areas through its distribution to those in mercantile areas. What we see on display here can obscure how ordinary materials become entwined within complex class and societal norms and networks of production, you know? Curator: I see what you mean. Though it's just a sketch, the potential embedded there is what captures my attention; imagining a future that would rely upon access and open availability is tantalizing! And it leaves me musing over winter days, sledding… a very peaceful way to drift off after viewing this drawing. Editor: Definitely gets you thinking beyond the boundaries of fine art; there's power in seeing the beginnings, the source of such grand depictions in Ter Borch's formal pieces.